Bulls 93, Celtics 85: It was a tale of two halves. In the first one the Celtics rolled, holding Chicago to 38 total points (the Bulls were without Derrick Rose again), while Paul Pierce alone scored 17 points to help the team build a 10-point lead at the break. Then the second half opened with a quick 6-0 Bulls run and it was a sign of things to come as the older legs of the Celtics looked like they were on a back-to-back. Chicago’s defense held the Celtics to 38 second half points while Luol Deng dropped 18 of his 26 after the halftime show.

Clippers 93, Kings 85: Los Angeles led most of the way but this is a feisty Kings squad that had a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter and made a real game of it. Late in the game, the Kings followed the book on Blake Griffin and let him take to top-of-the-key jumpers rather than drive — and he buried them. If he gets that shot down, watch out. Randy Foye continued his hot play and had 20. On the other side Jason Thompson must have watched the Andrew Bynum tapes from the night before and finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Pistons 99, Wizards 94: Detroit once again proves that it is the best of the NBA’s bad teams. Greg Monroe had 18 points without having to play the fourth quarter (he had it easy with Nene still out) and Rodney Stuckey had 15 off the bench for the Pistons. John Wall — 28 points, 10 assists — was the best and most aggressive player on the floor but it wasn’t enough. At the end the Wizards tried to foul Ben Wallace (hack-a-Ben?), and he knocked down 5 of 6 free throws.

The Deng/Pierce battle was fun to watch. Deng has steadily become a reliable crunch-time option. I’ve watched every Bulls game this year and, as of late, Deng is playing excellent defense as well as draining big shots every time the Bulls need a basket. I also think Rose being out and seeing his team come through with a big win against a surging team will allow him to show more trust and confidence in his teammates in big moments. It’ll be interesting to see Rose and Hamilton these last ten games and see how good the Bulls look before the playoffs (they looked dominant at 9-1 when together).